Raise the Red Lantern

In "Raise the Red Lantern", the symbolic implications of the ancestral altar in the central reception hall go beyond the family walls, because it displays the portraits of all the powerful officals in the Chen family, thus suggesting the entire patriarchal tradition and its political power.

In "Raise the Red Lantern", the red lantern, an invented icon here (and one accused of being a fake cultural signifier used merely for sensational purposes), is the film's central symbol and most important metaphor. The colour red is a symbol of sexuality and eroticism, but no longer of passion. More importantly, it turns out to be associated with patriarchal and political power. To get the lantern lit refers to the victory of one woman over all the others, but at the same time it still represents failure for all the women because the woman who gains the lit lantern must be totally exposed, under the red light, before the gaze and under the control of the man. The color red here remains a symbol of blood and death, as in the death scenes of both the servant Yan'er and the third wife, who dared to disobey the rules.